The present disclosure relates generally to gaming machines and gaming systems, and more particularly to a gaming machine having a video camera.
Many of today's gaming casinos and other entertainment locations feature different single and multi-player gaming systems, such as slot machines and video poker machines, that enable players to play wager-based games. Wager-based games generally refer to games in which a player risks a certain amount of money or credits on a round of game play. If the outcome of the round is favorable to the player, he or she may be awarded an amount of money or credits equal to or greater than the amount risked by the player. However, if the outcome of the round of game play is unfavorable to the player, the player loses the risked amount and receives nothing.
Gaming machines are highly regulated to ensure fairness. In many cases, gaming machines may be operable to dispense monetary awards of a large amount of money. Accordingly, access to gaming machines is often carefully controlled. For example, in some jurisdictions, routine maintenance requires that extra personnel (e.g., gaming control personnel) be notified in advance and be in attendance during such maintenance. Additionally, gaming machines may have hardware and software architectures that differ significantly from those of general-purpose computers (PCs), even though both gaming machines and PCs employ microprocessors to control a variety of devices. For example, gaming machines may have more stringent security requirements and fault tolerance requirements. Additionally, gaming machines generally operate in harsher environments as compared with PCs.
In many casinos and other entertainment locations, the gaming machines are configured to present an attract sequence to attract players to the games. The attract sequence may include flashing lights, sounds, image presentations, video presentations, or any combination thereof. The attract sequences performed on the gaming machines may be energy intensive. Further, the attract sequences performed on the gaming machines may distract and annoy players of other gaming machines and casino patrons in the vicinity of the gaming machines performing the attract sequences.